


The Death of Catherine

by WotanAnubis



Series: Fate of the Fallen Petals [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crimson Flower, F/F, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Imprisonment, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, no actual death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 22:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21345823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: In which Catherine has to find some way to get going again.
Relationships: Catherine/Shamir Nevrand
Series: Fate of the Fallen Petals [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754551
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81





	The Death of Catherine

**Author's Note:**

> This fic brought to you by the fact that Catherine can survive the events of the Crimson Flower campaign.

It was a nice cell, all things considered. It was studiously kept clean, there was plenty of light, meals were regular and varied. There was even time every day to go out into the courtyard for some exercise.

Catherine had been in many dungeons in her time, often to throw someone into them to await sentencing by the Church. Compared to those, this cell was practically a luxury apartment.

She knew she got off easy. She wasn't sure if she should be grateful or anything, but she recognized her incarceration could have been a lot worse.

It didn't really matter, anyway. Catherine wasn't in her cell. She was still in Fhirdiad.

Every time she closed her eyes, there were the flames. And, behind the flames, the deep shadows of the Black Eagle Strike Force. Rhea... Seiros... the Immaculate One... had forced her to set the whole city on fire to slow the Imperial Army. What had happened instead was that a small group of elites had snaked their way through narrow alleyways to reach Rhea without having engage most of the Church army.

By the time Catherine had realized what was up and had gone to support Rhea, it had already been far too late. Maybe, she told herself, maybe if the city hadn't been on fire, if the flames hadn't blocked her path, maybe she would've made it in time. Maybe she would've been able to reach Rhea and... well... die with her.

But the city had been on fire. And the flames had blocked her path. And so she'd been to do nothing but watch from behind a wall of fire as the Emperor and the Traitor struck down the Immaculate One.

Catherine sat miserably against the bare stone wall. She could have sat on her bunk, which was soft and comfortable, but she didn't feel like it. She had drawn up her legs, her wrists resting on her knees. She was thinking. More or less.

What if she'd convinced Rhea not to torch Fhirdiad? What if she'd spotted Edelgard for who she was? What if she'd been there in the Holy Tomb when the Traitor turned?

What if... what if... what if... what if...

"Aren't you a miserable sight."

Catherine looked up out of her misery. Shamir leaned casually against the wall next to the cell door, arms crossed against her chest. There wasn't much of an expression on her face. Not that she'd really expected one.

Catherine stared at her erstwhile partner. She didn't know how to feel. Should she fly into a rage because she'd sided with the Emperor? Should she try to kill her now for betraying Rhea? Should she be disgusted with her for abandoning the Church simply for money?

"Shamir," she said.

"How've you been doing?" Shamir asked.

Catherine gestured vaguely with her hands. "I've been treated well, I guess."

"That's not what I asked," Shamir said.

"How do you think I've been doing?"

Shamir nodded, conceding the point. "There's been discussion about your fate."

"Oh? I thought my fate'd been decided already?"

"More or less. Edelgard is content to keep you locked up in here. Hubert fears you might go after her should you ever escape, so he wants you executed."

"You're on first name basis with the Emperor?" Catherine asked.

Shamir shrugged. "She hates it when people refer to her by her title. Especially the people who... who know her."

Catherine scoffed. "Sure."

"Anyway, there's a third opinion getting increasingly popular at court. You could be set free."

Catherine stared at Shamir for... well, she didn't how long. Long enough. Not a muscle moved on the Dagdan's face. Not so much as a twitch of the lips to suggest she was joking.

"What?"

"You heard me," said Shamir. "Question is, do you want it?"

Catherine's right shoulder twitched in what was almost a half-shrug. "What am I even supposed to do with freedom?"

"You could try to get your revenge."

"Really?" said Catherine. "Would that bring back Rhea? Or the Church? Would that turn back the clock and make the world make sense again?"

"No."

"Then why should I care?"

Shamir regarded her quietly for a moment or two. "I ever tell you why I came to Fódlan?"

"I think I managed to pry that story out of you eventually."

"The war was lost, Dagda was in ruins, the one I loved was dead," said Shamir. "My world was over, so I decided to leave it, see what the rest of it was like."

"I know, you told me," said Catherine. "So I guess you're telling me I should do what you did?"

"Sure. Why not?" said Shamir. "And... if you wanted me with you, I'd go with you. I don't know if I have to right to ever call you my partner again, but... we were partners, once. So... I'll do what I can."

"How thoughtful," said Catherine. She wasn't sure if she meant it sarcastically or not. "But I don't know if I can do it. I'm not sure I can just walk away from what happened."

"I'm not saying it'll be easy," said Shamir. "But I'm sure you can do it, Cassandra."

Catherine's eyes narrowed. "How dare you."

"Ah, so you can still get angry. Good. I think that means you can get up as well."

Catherine fell silent. There was something stirring in her chest. Something like anger. But it wasn't aimed at Shamir. She didn't like it much. And she'd been wallowing in it since her surrender. Maybe it was time to get rid of it.

Moving slowly, as though she was a puppet that had learn to move without strings, Catherine put a hand on the stone floor and pushed herself up to her feet.

"I can't stay in Fódlan," she said.

"As you wish," said Shamir. "We could go to Almyra. Or Morfis. Wherever you please."

"Away will do for now," said Catherine. "Just so long as I can leave Fhirdiad behind."

Shamir pushed the cell door open. If this were a book, sunlight should have suddenly come flooding into the gloomy cell, but the truth was that the hallway and her cell had been more or less equally lit.

Shamir kept leaning against the wall, arms crossed, waiting.

Catherine forced herself into motion, one heavy step after the next. The length of the floor between the stone wall and the open door felt like miles, and Catherine didn't know how she was going to make it.

And then she was outside, in the hallway. Where someone was waiting for her.

"_You._"

Hubert bowed. "Catherine."

"Were you listening in on all that?"

"Of course," said Hubert. "I needed to make sure you were no threat to Lady Edelgard. Since it appears you are not, I trust we shall never meet each other again."

With that, Hubert turned and left. Catherine unclenched her fists.

"Sorry about that," said Shamir, emerging from the cell to stand next to her.

"No, I should have expected something like that," Catherine replied.

"Well, then, ready to go?" said Shamir.

Catherine looked down her side at her open hand, then glanced over to Shamir's hand. She couldn't help but notice how little she would need to move her hand to take Shamir's. How easy it would be. Part of her wanted to. Desperately. The rest of her wasn't ready. Perhaps wouldn't ever be.

"No," she said. "I'm not ready."

"Alright," said Shamir. "Can I help?"

"No," she said. "I need a new name."

"I understand," said Shamir. "Let me know what it is once you've found it."

"I will."

"But for now, do you think you could walk?" Shamir said.

"Where to?" she asked.

"I don't know," Shamir replied. "Why don't we go find out?"

"Sounds good," she said.


End file.
